Bootleg Betty
Video Short From Boodles BonBon: The Iconic Delores DeLago – I Will Survive
By Boodles BonBon
Jan. 14, 2026
One of the most iconic and hilarious performances in Bette Midler’s career is her alter ego Delores DeLago (the “toast of Chicago” and self-proclaimed mermaid extraordinaire) belting out a campy, over-the-top rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s disco anthem “I Will Survive”.
Delores is a wheelchair-bound mermaid in a sparkling fishtail costume, often joined by backup “DeLago Sisters” (also mermaids in wheelchairs), turning the empowerment anthem into a wildly absurd, empowering, and subversive spectacle. She wriggles across the stage, flaps her tail, climbs into a motorized wheelchair, and leads a choreographed “wheelchair dance” — it’s pure Divine Miss M chaos at its finest!T
This bit debuted in her late 1970s/early 1980s cabaret shows and became a highlight in tours like the 1983 Art or Bust (sometimes called “I (We) Will Survive” with the group). It’s been celebrated for flipping the mermaid trope into something defiant and adaptive.
